


Missing You

by FadingThroughNebulae



Series: In Celebration of SoKai Week [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, First work with this pairing, Grief/Mourning, Hopeful Ending, Just going through character emotions, Lost Love, Lots of light references because it's Kingdom Hearts, No Plot/Plotless, One Shot, Paopu Fruit (Kingdom Hearts), Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Sad, SoKai Week, Sokai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:41:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25017928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FadingThroughNebulae/pseuds/FadingThroughNebulae
Summary: Kairi silently suffers while Sora remains missing.
Relationships: Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: In Celebration of SoKai Week [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817530
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	Missing You

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit of mindless rambling as I considered how Kairi is coping with Sora slipping out of existence, especially with Melody of Memory hopefully releasing later this year. I never thought I would write a SoKai piece, but here we are. :D Kairi's certainly sweet character, but her personality along with Riku's (though he only makes a brief appearance) were somewhat difficult to pin down, as I haven't spent as much time with them as I have with some of my favorites. Let me know what you think! As always, thank you for reading and stay safe out there.

The daisies and daffodils lost their scent long ago, and the world grew darker with one less light in it. A heavy atmosphere settled around Kairi as if the inner chambers of her heart cradled a large stone. She ran out of tears to shed days ago, her emotional well tapped dry. An inescapable numbness occasionally consumed the pain, but the aching would always return. Just as the color around her further began to dim, and all senses blended into something only the most melancholy would recognize. 

She sat on the rock near the cliff's edge, looking out into the setting sun dipping behind the distant trees. Her fingertips reached for her necklace and pressed to the opal gemstone. Its cool touch was welcomed against the heat of the humid, summer air and the rising flush of her skin as her memories took hold. At least once every other week, she'd request Merlin grant her access back into the fissure that separated worlds, where time stood still. It offered her a slight sense of solace, returning here and breathing in the scent of the earth. Recalling memories of her and Lea, laughing after a grueling day of being pitted against each other. Thinking back to the short, valuable moments filled with teasing smiles, elbows in sides, and the taste of sea-salt ice cream. Remembering the letter she penned before she fully understood what they all were up against. What truly awaited her and Sora. 

A delicate wind stirred her hair and picked up leaves from the ground. She watched them sail over the cliff, dancing in soft spirals towards the horizon. Upon that breeze, she could hear his voice. She always heard his voice here, speaking to her softly from across spaces of blurry light and mist. Kairi reached into her dress pocket then, producing a tiny golden seed. It fit perfectly in the center of her palm, and she held it up to the sunset, the light peeking over its rough edges. She recalled its strong taste, something unlike any other fruit on the island, or in any other world.

Sea-salt ice cream paled in comparison to the sour flavor that melted into one of honey, mint, and citrus. She remembered how Sora grinned at her with his eyes closed as juice ran down his chin. How he broke into laughter before running his mouth on his arm. How he placed his hand over hers on the bark of the palm tree, his other hand still holding his half of the paopu. How his deep blue eyes admired her face as the space between them seemed to shrink, and how she silently wished he'd lean in closer instead of staring at her with his legs now crossed, head tilted to the side with that soft smile on his lips.

Kairi slowly lowered the paopu seed, and her eyes lifted to the sky. Something within her heart wrenched free, and the stone moved to her throat. She released a shaky breath as the sorrow overthrew the dead feeling she'd lived with for the past several days. The tears rushed forward. Her shoulders shook. Then her mind took over, etching out a vision of him at her side, a ghostly shape of translucent gold and white. He sat down beside her, reaching for her shoulder with a somber smile on his face. Kairi's eyes remained closed, her breath shuddering as she slumped over with her face in her hands, crying more than she ever had. She could almost feel Sora next to her, warmth radiating off his body as it had when they fulfilled their promise on Destiny Islands.

The stars began to appear up above, the sky alight on the horizon with purple and pink. Kairi finally straightened, all her energy zapped from the body-wracking sobs. She ran her fingers through her eyes as she sniffled, then returned to a sense of hopeless contemplation, her hand pressed to her mouth. The snapping of twigs greeted her ears, and she jolted to look behind her.

Riku emerged from the trees, a few stray leaves in his hair.

"You came here by yourself?" he said, approaching the rock.

Kairi released a shaky sigh, before raking her knuckles through one of her eyes again. A rather pointless effort. Riku knew she'd been crying just by looking at her red nose and cheeks. "I needed some time to be alone," she said.

"Yeah, I get that." He sat down beside her, reclining with one leg tucked to his chest, his arm draped over his knee. 

Silence lingered between them. The sound of insects humming crept out of the woods and lifted from the grass. Kairi wrung her hands, her mind desperately trying to latch onto the right words.

"Do you think we'll find him?" Her voice came out soft and hushed.

"That what you worried about?" He met her eyes, then realized that's not quite the answer she wanted.

"What if... What if no matter what we do, or where we look..." Her voice hitched. "Riku, what if he's really gone?"

Riku focused back on the forest down in the valley, blackbirds circling the canopy until they disappeared in the trees for an evening rest. After a bit of a long pause, he sighed. "You can feel his light? Is that why it hurts so much?"

Kairi blinked, her eyes still slightly damp, and Riku put a hand to her shoulder, offering the gentlest of smiles. "He's out there. You can feel it and so can I." He held her gaze for a moment longer, then slid off the rock. "We'll find him alright. But we can't do that if we stop searching," he said, gazing up at the stars. He turned back to her. "Come on. Let's get you home. Merlin's probably curious what you've been up to."

He extended a hand to her. Kairi looked to it, then to Riku's face. A mirage of gold materialized ever so faintly, falling over Riku like a shadow. Sora smiled at her, shaking his hand in the air, beckoning.

Kairi reached out, and Riku pulled her to her feet. "What do I tell Merlin?" she said.

Riku thought for a moment, then grinned, eyes closed. "Tell him you were sky gazing."

She gave him a playful shove, and he let out a deep laugh, raising his arms to guard himself. She shook her head as she followed close behind him, wandering towards the path that snaked between the trees, the aching in her heart slowly subsiding. The moon rose ahead in the clearing where the path ended, and it bathed them in welcoming light as they began to head back home. Before she stepped through the treeline, Kairi paused and glanced over her shoulder back to the rock near the edge. She noticed a cluster of small orbs hovering above where she had sat, faintly shimmering in the dusky night.


End file.
